Bryant University used a second-half surge to defeat the Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team, 56-43, on Saturday afternoon at Chase Athletic Center in Smithfield, RI. The Bulldogs improve to 3-15 this season, while the Knights fall to 2-14 overall.
Sean Baptiste (North Brunswick, NJ/St. Josephs of Metuchen) led the Knights with 13 points and six rebounds, while Alvin Mofunanya (Englewood, NJ/Dwight Morrow) added 10 and six rebounds.
Bryant opened the game with a 10-4 advantage five and a half minutes in, but Kamil Svrdlik (Prerov, Czech Republic/Gymnazium Zlin) converted an old-fashioned three-point play to cut the Bulldogs' lead in half.
The Bulldogs took a 17-8 advantage on a trey from Peter Lambert, but Eric Moore (Dover, NJ/St. Benedict's) responded with a three of his own to make it a six-point gap with 11:29 on the clock.
Bryant extended its lead to double-digits, 23-13, on a jumper from Nick Pontes, who netted 13 points in the first half.
But the Knights shifted the momentum, turning it on with strong play on both sides of the court as they staged an 11-0 run to close out the half. The run was ignited with a dunk from Mofunanya followed by a three from Terence Grier (Cranford, NJ/St. Thomas More Prep). Baptiste connected on back-to-back jumpers and Mofunanya closed out the run connecting on two from the line. The Knights were able to hold the Bulldogs scoreless for the final seven and a half minutes of the first frame.
Mofunanya led the Knights in the first 20 minutes with nine points, two blocks and two steals. FDU shot 36 percent from the floor, while the Bulldogs shot 41 percent and held a 20-13 edge on the boards.
The Knights took their first lead of the second half, 27-26, on a fast break as Moore dished the ball to Baptiste. Baptiste and Cameron Tyler (Jamaica, NY/Notre Dame Prep (MA)) perfectly executed a give-and-go down the court on the ensuing possession to again grab the edge.
The two teams traded baskets with four lead changes until Bryant was able to stage a 19-1 run to pull ahead, capped by a three-point play from Jerrann Wright that gave the Bulldogs a 47-30 lead. The Bulldogs were able to stifle the Knights' offense, holding FDU scoreless for a stretch of almost eight and a half minutes.
Wright, who scored seven of the Bulldogs' first eight points in the second half, finished the game with 14 points, 12 of which came in the final 20 minutes. Pontes led Bryant with 18 points.
The Knights responded with an offensive spurt of their own, staging a 13-4 run that was capped by five unanswered points to cut the Bryant lead to eight, 51-43, with 2:57 remaining in the game. But the Bulldogs scored the final five points to seal the 56-43 victory.
The Knights were out-rebounded, 46-29, and connected on 2-of-16 from three-point range.
After shooting 86 percent from the charity stripe in the first half, the Knights connected on 5-of-13 from the line in the second half (39 percent).
“We knew coming in that it would be a 50-55 point game by their style of play,” said Head Coach Tom Green. “We knew that we had to take quality shots. To their credit, they did a great job of defending us. We didn't take advantage of the offensive opportunities that were presented to us.”
“We are still getting hurt by dribble penetration and our post defense was very sporadic. It was a disappointing loss, but we have three important conference games in five days coming up, so we have to move on quickly.”
The Knights will return home to host intrastate rival Monmouth on Monday, Jan. 19 at 6:00 p.m. in a game that will be televised live on MSG.
